


We Need To Talk

by IAMS



Series: Poly Avengers [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Clint, Alpha Natasha, Alpha Steve, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Bad BDSM Etiquette, Bad Scene, Come Swallowing, F/M, Insecure!Bucky, Insecure!Steve, M/M, Multi, Omega Tony, adding tags bc 2nd chap got away from me, alpha bucky, everybody needs a hug, hurt!Tony, insecure!Tony, mild assplay, miscommunications, use of safeword
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-18 11:00:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4703597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAMS/pseuds/IAMS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky thinks it's all his fault that the relationship he's building with Steve and Tony hasn't gone past movie night cuddling and heavy petting. He wants to be the alpha Tony and Steve need. </p><p>Or:<br/>The boys learn a valuable lesson in healthy communication after a scene goes wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The shift in dynamic is noticeable.

Tony feels awful about it, but the omega in him can’t help the way he starts acting around the two alphas.

He’s still a little shit in general, of course. He still fucks with the toaster to freak Clint out. He still bitches at Tasha every time she steals his coffee mug.

But sometimes their new dynamic will show. Tony will be mouthing off to Fury in the middle of a debrief, and Natasha will give him a certain look. And he’ll settle down with little to no protest, surprising everyone in the room. After, Natasha or Clint will take him down.

They’ve gotten good at telling when Tony’s kicking up a storm for the sake of making a scene, and when he’s doing it to get their attention without having to outright ask for it.

Bucky and Steve encourage him to go to the other alphas as often as he feels he needs to, but Tony knows this can’t be easy for either man.

\--------------------------------------------------------

“I hate this.” Bucky grits out, clenching and unclenching his fists in a failed attempt to release some of the tension in his body.

Pepper frowns, “I understand that it’s hard.” she says, and Bucky doesn’t call bullshit, because he knows she’s right. She might not be traumatized and she might have all of her limbs firmly in place, but she knows first hand how frightening it is to believe yourself capable of harming the person you love.

“I just...I know it’s what’s best for Tony right now, because I sure as hell can’t give him what he needs, but I--God, I want to, Pepper, I really want to.”

“I know, James.” she stirs the contents of her shake and bites her lip. “When Tony and I got together, it was right after Afghanistan, and he couldn’t go down, and I couldn’t take him down, and it was frustrating as all hell, and I remember being so upset with myself for not being what he needed at the time.

But that doesn’t help anybody James. I realized later that all that anger I’d been harboring for what I considered my own inadequacies, Tony thought I was directing at him for what he thought were his.” The redhead takes a long gulp of her shake. “Getting angry won’t help anybody in this situation, is what I’m trying to say. It’s always better to talk about it with your partner--or, well, partners--and let it out that way, so that you’re all on the same page, and nobody’s left misunderstanding anything.”

Bucky plays with the straw in his shake. “Yeah, you’re right.” she is right, he does need to talk about how he’s feeling. But he doesn’t know what that’ll really do; it’s not like it’ll change anything.

\------------------------------------------

It’s three days later when all three are lying in bed--or rather, sitting up in it.

Steve’s drawing a bird he saw that morning, sketching out its’ feathers and making shadows underneath it’s wings.

Tony’s in the middle of working on some holographic schematics on his Starkpad, muttering this and that under his breath.

And Bucky? Bucky’s pretending to read the mystery novel he’d picked up at a bookstore a couple of days ago. It’s not really working, he can’t get into it, he keeps re-reading the same damn sentence over and over. He looks over at his two lovers and watches them for a long moment. He knows he’s the reason they’re at this standstill. He just knows he’s the one holding this relationship back.

No more.

“Tone, c’mere and put the tablet down.” he wishes his voice didn’t waver when he calls out the order, but he hears the last couple of words drown out in his anxiety.

Tony’s lost in the baby blue hues of his design, because his only response is an absent “Mmm.”

Steve’s just as preoccupied, because he doesn’t make fun of Tony for being so distracted in bed.

A trickle of aggravation phases the ex-soldier. “Tony, put the the tablet down.” he tries again, but he can tell the order sounds weak, even to his ears.

“What’s that, babe?” Tony looks up and tilts his head, his fingers still moving on the tablet.

“Put that thing down and come over here.” it comes out harsher than he intends, but the angry tone finally gets both men’s attention.

And it’s like a flip goes off in Tony’s head, because he drops the tablet without a moment’s hesitation and crawls over to him immediately.

Steve’s eyes go wide, “Buck?”

“I’m ready.”

“Are you--are you sure?” Steve looks between alpha and omega, his brow furrowed with concern.

“I am. I want to do this.” Bucky says, his voice firm, and he’s shocked  he’s kept it from trembling this whole time. Inside he’s scared shitless.

“If you’re sure.” Steve sits upright. “I’ll be right here, then.”

That surprises Bucky, that Steve won’t be actively participating, but if  he stops too long to think about anything other than being an alpha, he’ll psych himself out of whatever zone he’s gotten into. He clears his throat. “What color, Tony?”

“Green, sir.” Tony breathes, and it’s clear he’s tense, but there’s also a buzz of excitement in him, and that’s obvious too.

“Get off the bed and stand up straight, right there, in front of the dresser.”

Tony does as he’s told but after a few minutes he starts to fidget. Did he do something wrong? Why isn’t his alpha saying anything?

Bucky notices the fidgeting and he wants to thank Tony for moving around, because it’s the only thing that broke him out of his own fear-induced stupor, but he can’t let them know he’s scared. He needs to maintain the illusion of an alpha in total control. He can do this! He has to!

“Didn’t I say ‘stand straight’?” he thinks his tone might still be too mean, but Tony seems to be responding to it just fine, so he decides to continue. “You’re not being a very good boy right now, Tony.”

Tony stands stock still at the mention of bad behavior and he can feel his face heat up. His first time subbing for James and he’s already screwing up. Shit, shit, shit. He’s a good boy--Nat and Clint let him know constantly, and when he’s naughty, they let him know with proper discipline.

“I’m sorry, sir. I can be good, sir.” maybe James will punish him for being bad and then praise him at the end for taking it so well, for showing them that he can be good. God, he hopes so. He can’t stand looking like a bad sub in front of both his alphas.

“Undress. Now.”

Tony hurriedly takes off all of his clothes, right down to the socks he wore to bed tonight, and chucks them to the side.

“That’s sloppy work. Why didn’t you fold those?”

Tony makes a little noise in the back of his throat and tries not to fidget again. Crap. Did he miss that order? He didn’t know he was supposed to fold his clothes. But that’s such a lame excuse. I wasn’t listening--is that what he really wants to say to his alpha? “I’m sorry sir.” It’s really the only other thing that he can say at this point, he’s such a fucking screw up, Christ. That’s two mistakes in as many minutes.

“What are you waiting for?” Bucky’s stalling, and oh God, he’s doing such a bad job of it. He wonders if Steve and Tony can see right through him, if they’re just tolerating this whole act out of kindness.

Tony barks out another apology before picking up his clothes and folding each article one by one until they’re in a neat pile on the bed.

“Why are they still on the bed?” James tries to keep from biting his lip in a nervous fit. This all feels wrong.

“I--” Tony bows his head. “Sorry sir, I’ll put them away right now.” Great, he doesn’t even have enough common sense to do the obvious. Damn it, that’s three strikes, what the hell is wrong with him? He didn’t picture their first time like this at all.

Steve watches from the edge of the bed, his body coiled tight. Something’s off, he’s not sure what, exactly, but he can feel a certain tension in the air, and it’s not good. A part of him wants to say something, but although he’s not a virgin or anything like that (he’s slept with betas in the past), he’s never had the chance to dom an omega, and he doesn’t want to speak out of turn. Bucky’s done this before, maybe not in a very long time, sure, but it’s still more experience than Steve’s ever had.

Despite how awfully embarrassed Tony is at the moment, he’s sporting an erection, because he hasn’t had sex in over half a year and being naked in front of two gorgeous alphas has that effect on him.

“Get over here.” Bucky sees the hard on, that means he must be doing something right, right? He sure as hell hopes so, because he’s running on a weird sort of autopilot right now. He knows Tony enjoys spanking, he like bruises on his thighs and buttocks, he likes spanking as a form of punishment for when he’s misbehaving purposely. They’ve talked about this.

“On all fours. Hurry up.”

Tony gets on the bed and obediently gets into position.

Bucky grimaces. They have to know. Tony’s purposely making silly mistakes right now, he’s patronizing him. “The other way, Tony, come on, I don’t have all night.” and ok, that one did sound somewhere in the vicinity of pissed off, but if he stops now he’ll ruin everything.

He knows the omega’s in a headspace, he can see the dilated pupils, the deep, slow breathing. He can’t take him out of it abruptly, just because he’s having a goddamned moment of crippling self-doubt over here.

Tony bows his head again to keep the stupid tears prickling his eyes from showing. James sounds so disappointed, it makes him want to crawl in a hole and just die there. He’s so mad at himself, he can’t believe he’s screwing up so badly! Are they even going to want him after this? He’s been doing so well for Natasha and Clint, why is he messing it all up now?

The first slap to his bottom nearly sends him flying off the bed. No warm up, just straight to it. Tony bites his bottom lip hard to keep from shouting. He deserves this.

Bucky brings his hand down a second time and when that doesn’t make Tony yelp or scramble away, he keeps going, trying to gouge how hard he should keep going by the omegas’ reactions. After ten good warm up hits, Bucky says, “Count.” and then strikes down on the bright red, bare bottom.

He’s surprised when Tony makes a sound akin to a wounded animal and clenches the sheets beneath his fists until his knuckles go white.

"Pineapple!" 

Steve startles when Bucky practically screams the safe word before bolting out of the room and into their suites' private bathroom. He hears the click that means the former soldiers' locked himself in there, and goes cold. Steve looks to Tony--he's not an alpha, but he's definitely more experienced with scenes than Steve is, he'll know what to do. 

Except that Tony's obviously too far down to help him. He's still on all fours, beads of sweat dropping from his forehead, eyes glazed, head low, as if nothing in the last few seconds just happened. 

"Tony...." Steve reaches out for the omega's shoulder, and his heart stutters when Tony withdraws, hunching further into himself. 

Steve slowly stands up. "I'm...I'm going to check up on Bucky, Tony. Just...uh, just stay right there, okay?" No response. 

He walks over to the bathroom and puts one hand on the door to brace himself. "Bucky? Baby? Can you answer me?" there's shuffling and then the sink is turned on, and Steve realizes it's so that he won't hear Bucky cry. "Bucky, Buck please." he tries again. 

"I keep fucking up!" 

Steve breathes a small sigh of relief. "No, Bucky, this isn't your fault--" 

"Jesus! At least stop lying about it!" 

"What are you talking about!?" Steve wants to break the lock (no large feat) and talk to his lover face to face, but he can't do that to Bucky, not if he doesn't want to be seen right now. "Buck, just open the door, let's talk about this." 

"Fuck off, Stevie, I don't want to talk. Just...go check up on Tony." his voice breaks on the omega's name. 

Steve wants to punch the wall. "Damn it, Buck, I don't know what the hell to do!" he screams. He looks back at their bed. Tony's still as can be, hasn't moved a muscle. "Bucky, please come out." he begs. He can't do this alone. He wants Tony to snap out of it already, he wants Tony to bang on the bathroom door with him and threaten mutiny if Bucky doesn't open the damn door already. 

When he doesn't get a response and several minutes (but what feel like hours) tick by, Steve's knees buckle and he slides down to the floor. "Fuck." he wipes his eyes angrily. Crying right now is not the answer to his problems. 

"Tony." He calls out, after a pregnant pause. 

Still nothing. Tony doesn't even acknowledge him. "Tony, Tony please look at me. Please." Steve swallows down a sob and stands up again. He makes his way over to the omega and then kneels in front of him so that he can at least see his face. "Tony..." there are silent tears running down his cheeks and a wet spot where the tears have landed, on the blanket underneath him.

"JARVIS, can you call Nat and Clint to our room, please? Let him know Tony needs them." It hurts to say the words--it should be him and Bucky who the omega needs. Instead, Steve finds himself on his knees, in the middle of their room, unable to do a single thing to help either mate.


	2. Chapter 2

Clint is in the middle of a Matrix movie marathon when JARVIS alerts them to the situation.

Natasha drops the knives she’s been sharpening at her desk and is the first to get up.

They share a look of concern before heading to the Captains’ floor.

Clint tells himself it’s probably nothing. There’s always the chance that Tony’s just being his usual insomniac self and trying to drown himself in coffee again--it happens. He hopes he was just imagining the urgency in the A.I.’s voice.

Unfortunately, nothing is ever “probably nothing” with them, because before they even knock, Steve’s at the door, practically breaking the poor thing off it’s hinges, talking a mile a minute.

“I don’t know what’s wrong, I can’t--I can’t fix this. You need to help Tony, please.” The Captain looks absolutely wrecked, eyes red-rimmed and posture stiff.

Natasha nods to Clint and takes Steve with her so that she can calm him down in the hallway while keeping him away from the omega.

Clint closes the door behind him and steps into the room, nearly cursing when he sees the state Tony’s in. “Hey hon,” He hears the water running in the bathroom but decides he’ll see what that’s about later. Right now his main focus should be the omega.

“Tony, I need you to look at me.” he orders, his voice firm but gentle.

Tony looks up slowly, as if his head weighs a ton, but otherwise doesn’t actually stare at anything in particularly, his mind far away.

“You’re dropping hard, Tony.” Clint tells the sub, carefully getting into bed with him, making sure to stay in sight so he doesn’t frighten the already spooked man even more. “I’m just gonna’ sit here, yeah?” he notices the small tremors running down Tony’s back and frowns. “Hon, come sit here with me.” he tries to make the spot next to him look inviting and warm. It looks like Tony’s been in that position for a while now.

He thinks that seeing the omega completely nude, on his hands and knees like this, should be awkward, but it’s not. Mostly because his mind isn’t anywhere near the gutter right now. He’s in ‘help your omega calm down’ mode, the alpha in Clint howling at the thought of Tony being anything but content.

He’s pleased when Tony follows his command and sits down next to him, but he notices the distance between them and frowns; Tony’s normally a very tactile person. “You must be cold. I’m gonna’ go and get you something nice and warm to wear, alright?” he starts shuffling on the bed to go to the drawers, but the high pitch whine that involuntarily comes out of Tony stops him in his tracks. “That’s okay, I’m not going anywhere. Promise. Here,” he grabs the blanket underneath him and lifts his butt so that he can wrap it around the smaller man. “How does that feel?”

Tony grips the blanket and pulls it tighter around himself. “Better.” he says, voice soft as can be. “Thank you sir.”

“Good, that’s real good hon, I want you to feel better. Is it okay if I hold you, Tony?”

Tony looks up momentarily and then quickly bows his head again, face scrunching up. “I don’t--no.” he shakes his head twice before huddling into the blankets even further.

Clint gulps. “That’s okay, too. Do you want something to drink or do you want me to stay here?”

“Stay.” Tony answers instantly, and then adds a quiet “Please.” at the end of his request.

“Okay, don’t worry, I’m not goin’ anywhere. I promised, remember? We’ll have Nat bring you a nice tall glass of water later. How does that sound?”

Tony nods.

“Do you wanna’ tell me how you’re feeling?”

Tony doesn’t say anything.

“I need words, hon. A yes or no is fine. I just wanna’ hear you talk. I like hearing you talk, Tony.” Clint gets a strong urge to reach over and touch him, because he knows contact with an alpha will make Tony feel just a little more at ease, but he knows that’s not what Tony wants right now, so he restrains himself.

Tony’s breath hitches. “Sorry sir. No sir.”

“Hey, you didn’t do anything wrong. You don’t have to apologize. You’re always such a good boy for me, Tony.”

It’s like a dam breaking, hearing those words, the way Tony’s whole body shudders. “No I’m not.” he cries, covering his face with one one and wrapping his other arm around his naked torso, letting the blanket covering him fall away from his body. “I’m not, I’m not.” he sobs, shoulders shaking, “I can’t…” he can barely speak, he’s crying so hard. “Can’t do anything right, I fucked up, I can’t...I don’t know what I did, I’m so scared.”

“Honey, baby, no, no, listen to me, ok? Are you listening? You’re so good, you behave for me and Tash all the time, we’re so pleased to have you with us, Tony. You make us so happy.” Clint wants more than anything to hold him. “I don’t know what happened here, and baby, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, that’s alright, but whatever happened, I know you didn’t fuck up. You’re a good boy, you’re perfect, Tony.”

Tony gasps another sob at the praise, because he doesn’t deserve it. Clint wasn’t there, he doesn’t know. “I’m not.” he tries to stop crying but the tears won’t stop. He hates this, hates crying like this, it makes his chest hurt.

“Tony, look at me.”

Tony does, still sniffling and crying and God, he must look so pathetic right now.

“You are, Tony. You are perfect. You are such a good good boy.” Clint makes sure the words are solid as stone, because they’re true, and Clint doesn’t think anyone’s ever really told him that. “Can I hold you?” he tries again.

Tony knows that after being so disobedient he shouldn’t be accepting the alphas’ kind touches, but he can’t help himself, so he nods timidly and lets himself be held.

“Tony, do you want to tell me what happened here?” Clint asks, after several moments. “If you don’t, that’s fine, too.” he reassures him.

The omega burrows further into Clint’s embrace and grimaces. “I don’t know.” he’s starting to feel just a little less awful, the contact helping a lot more than he thought it could. “I kept fucking up. I don’t know.” he sighs against the alphas chest. God, he’s exhausted.

Clint kisses him on the forehead, just a small peck, and rubs a hand up and down Tony’s back soothingly. “Hush. You’re my good boy, hon, the best, I’ll hear none of this badmouthing.” he squeezes the omega nice and tight and kisses him again.

“Can you….” Tony pauses, and then flushes, “Can you say that again?”

Clint smiles into Tony’s hair and complies. “You’re the best, baby. So good for me, such a good boy.”

Natasha’s quietly snuck into the room at that point, and she lets her shoulders relax after seeing how well her mate is doing with the omega. “Tony, you’re coming with us tonight. How does that sound to you?”

Tony blinks up at the redhead and fights the urge to cry again. He fucked up so bad Steve’s kicking him out of their room. Shit. It’s not like he hadn’t seen this coming. Sometimes it occurred to him that Steve and Bucky would be much better off without him.

Instead, he nods and hides his face in Clint’s shoulder.

\------

Steve knocks on the door the millionth time but isn’t surprised when all he gets is a “Go away.” from the other side.

He falls asleep sitting upright against the bathroom door.

\------

Once they’ve gotten Tony settled on their bed, which, unlike Steve’s bed, is not made for three adults, they saddle up at either side of him, squeezing him between themselves. It’s a tight fit, but Tony’s not complaining.

Natasha’s hands roam up and down the omega’s torso, back, legs, looking for any injuries he might be hiding or not entirely aware of--his scalp and neck, his thighs, and then his ass, which is when Tony hisses. She narrows her eyes and sits up. “Antoshka, is it alright if I take a look at that?”

Clint sits up too and nods encouragingly when Tony looks up at him. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’m going to pull these down, can you stay on your front for a little bit, I know that’s not the most comfortable position for you.”

Tony nods and sighs gratefully when Clint puts a pillow under him to keep the pressure off his chest.

Natasha gently pulls Tony’s boxers off to reveal extensive bruising on both cheeks. They’re a harsh red color, blood swelling underneath the torn skin, and one cheek is already in the midst of turning an ugly blue hue.

Clint stifles his own surprised gasp at the sight, not wanting to startle Tony. Jesus, how had he missed that?

“I’m going to rub some ointment on these bruises, Tony.” Natasha tells him, before standing to retrieve the medication from the bathroom cabinet.

When she comes back, Clint is talking mindlessly and running a hand up and down Tony’s bare back. She smiles at her mate and he makes a little kissy face at her that has her rolling her eyes. Natasha rubs the ointment between her fingers and thumb first, making sure it’s not too cold when she applies it to the omegas’ skin. “Let me know if I’m pressing too hard, Antoshka.”

Tony nods, “Yes ma’am.”

“I’m gonna’ go get some ice for that, but I’ll be back in a jiff.” Clint announces, kissing the top of Tony’s head before leaving.

Natasha’s hands feel good on his sore backside. “I need to probe a little more invasively, Tony.” she warns, and waits for his nod before spreading him open and looking for bruising on the anus. She frowns when she sees some swelling. “I’m going to rub some ointment here, Antoshka.” she takes her thumb and dips it between his buttocks, not entirely surprised when her touch elicits a small gasp from the omega. “Just a little more. Bare with me, yes?”

She sees Tony’s head bob up and down and continues her ministrations. When she hears him make a weird little noise in the back of his throat she stops rubbing around the ring of his hole and puts her other hand on the small of his lower back, “Did I hurt you? What’s wrong?”

Clint walks in, then, a small bucket of ice, a clear plastic baggy, and a towel in tow. “What’s the matter?” he asks, worry evident in his tone, as he sets the materials down by the side of the bed and climbs on.

Tony buries his face into a nearby pillow, thoroughly embarrassed. “Sorry, sorry, I--that felt really good. I’m sorry, ma’am.” he squeaks out, ears turning red.

Natasha wants to kick herself for not having realized it sooner. Of course that kind of stimulation would arouse an omega, especially one in a particularly emotional state. “It’s alright, Antoshka. That’s a normal reaction.”

Clint catches on quickly, after seeing Tony’s hard cock peeking out from between his legs. “Nothing to be ashamed of, honey, it happens.” he bends down to kiss the top of his head again and then keeps his face there, next to the omegas’ head; Tony’s hair always smells so good, it’s intoxicating some nights.

“I’m going to need you to hold still a little longer. Can you do that for me?”

“Mmhmm.” Tony nods, still embarrassed, and trying to will his erection to go down, but that seems an impossible feat when Natasha starts applying the ointment again, and all he wants to do is rut against their bed in search of some relief.

It’s been awhile since Tony can remember last getting off. Steve, Bucky and he have gotten as far as make-out sessions and under the cover hand jobs in bed, but it’s been about a month now since that latter part went down. Tony kept telling himself that it was only because Steve and Bucky were busy or too tired to engage in any more than heavy petting, and not because they didn’t want to touch him now that he was seeing another alpha pair.

And Tony himself has been too busy with lab work and all the projects on his plate, plus the whole saving the world thing every other week to sit down and knock one outta’ the park. Who had the time? Any free time he did have he either spent with Steve and Bucky or with Clint and Natasha.

So, yeah, this erection? Not going anywhere. Not even when Nat finishes making those methodical circles around his hole and tells him to spread his legs a little. “Good boy.” she sounds like she’s smiling, and that makes his heart jump. “I need to check inside you, Antoshka, I want to make sure you’re not bruised worse than I believe. I’ll need you to tell me if you feel any pain.”

Tony nods, and relaxes a little when Clint starts running his fingers up and down his back.

He hears something uncap and then a moment later he feels one of Natasha’s slim long fingers slowly and gently slide in.

Nat’s surprised at how tight he is, but knows she probably shouldn’t be; she’s pretty sure his last penetrative sexual encounter had been with Pepper, and they’ve been over for nine months now. “Does anything hurt?”

Tony shakes his head. “No ma’am.” all he feels is a nice stretch, and what is probably all of the blood in his body going straight to his cock, at the intrusion.

“I’m going to move it around now,” Natasha says, “let me know if anything causes you pain.” She goes palm facing up towards the rectum first and probes for a minute before she twists her finger down and then makes a fluid ‘come hither’ motion.

Tony moans into his pillow and his cock twitches beneath him, smearing precome all over the head. He can’t even remember the last time someone played with his prostate, and it’s like fireworks exploding inside him. He remembers himself quickly enough and goes stiff, (pun not intended)“Sorry.”

Clint squeezes the back of his neck with one calloused hand and shushes him. “Hey, remember what we said earlier?”

“This is a normal response to stimulation, Antoshka.” Natasha reminds him, and then she removes the finger from inside him and goes to the bathroom to wash her hands and put away the ointment, while Clint takes over.

Clint places some of the ice inside the plastic baggy and then places the towel over Tony’s buttocks, so that he can place the ice over it. It feels nice on his heated skin, and Tony sighs softly. He wants to relax again but his body has other ideas. All his body wants in this moment is some release.

Clint finds his eyes drawn to the hardness between Tony’s legs and feels his face go flush with arousal. It’d be a lie if he said he wasn’t physically attracted to the older man, more so since he’s been taking the omega down now for nearly three months.

It’s not as if they haven’t discussed the sexual aspect of a relationship such as theirs, before. Tony had been all toothy snarky grins and wiggling eyebrows at the time, and Clint had been no better. But they had all agreed that yes, it was normal for things to get physical between an alpha and omega, and that if that happened to occur at some point, that it would be alright, so long as Tony was left unmarked by either alpha. A mark would signal a kind of ownership, a kind of lasting bond between the three.

Clint’s surprised they’ve all lasted this long, in fact. There have been other times, more frequently in the last month, where during a session Tony will be erect throughout. But he’s normally so far down he doesn’t take notice or ask for any attention to get rid of it, so Nat and Clint hadn’t bothered.

Now, though. Clint clears his throat and removes the ice pack and towel when Natasha enters the room. “Hon, you want to go take care of that?” he asks, trying for casual.

Tony’s face goes redder than the red of his Ironman suit. He shakes his head no and lets Natasha pull his boxers back up, whimpering a little when the fabric goes over his sensitive cock.

“Bedtime.” Natasha mutters, before making sure all of the lights are off and their door is locked.

Clint and Tony lie face to face, with Nat spooning Tony on the other side.

Noses practically touching, Clint can feel Tony’s breath on his face. Nat has one arm folded underneath her head against a pillow and the other wrapped around the omegas’ waist, her fingers curling over the hairs on his happy trail. It feels nice, but the touch is also just a little too close to his still-hard cock, and Tony wants to whine and beg her to touch him.

“Tony,” the archer tilts his head so that their foreheads are touching. “I’m gonna’ kiss you now, if you don’t want me to, tell me to stop.” he goes slow, cups Tony’s face with one hand and brings their lips together, and it’s very chaste, the way Tony imagines a middle schooler might kiss his first crush, given the chance.

And then it’s not so middle-school anymore, because the second Tony kisses back, Clint brings their faces closer and slips his tongue inside the omegas’ mouth and it’s fire. Tony moans into the kiss, and rocks his hips forward, looking for friction.

He feels Natasha shift behind him, her mouth right next to his ear when she whispers, “Would you like some help with this, Antoshka?” and then her hand travels down, down, down, and she’s palming his cock through his boxers and Tony keens into Clint’s open mouth and ruts into her hand helplessly.

“Please, please, please.” he cries out, in between sloppy kisses.

Clint chuckles and leans in to mouth at Tony’s neck, “Tell us what you need, honey. Go ahead, say it.”

Tony gasps, “Touch me, fuck, please, please touch me.”

Natasha rewards him by shoving her hand down his underwear and wrapping her fingers around his hard leaking cock. “Fuck into my fist, Tony.” She orders.

And shit, that’s so hot, Tony thinks he might come just from hearing the alpha’s command. “Yes ma’am. Thank you ma’am. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” he shudders, his hips rocking back and forth, his cock sliding into her tight, hot fist.

Fuck, he’s close. He’s so close. So close. “Can I--”

“Stop.” Natasha removes her fist, leaving the omega to thrust into nothing but the fabric of his boxers, which doesn’t feel even an eighth of a fraction as good.

He whimpers at the loss.

“Turn over, face up, Antoshka, and spread your legs for us.”

Tony complies hurriedly and groans when Clint removes his boxers entirely, freeing his cock.  

“Clint is going to wrap his pretty mouth around your cock and suck until you come, and then he’s going to swallow every last drop, because you’re such a good boy, Tony.”

Tony whines high and then inhales sharply the second Clint’s lips are on his cock. Clint takes him all the way, nice and deep, right to the back of his throat, before sucking hard, and that’s all he has to do to push him off the edge.

Tony comes with a full-body shudder and holds onto the sheets for dear life, eyes rolling to the back of his head as the spasms continue and then finally subside.

Clint sits up and wipes his mouth, grinning wildly. “Fuck, look at you.” he leans back down and presses his nose into Tony’s hip, inhaling the omegas’ scent.

Natasha wipes Tony’s sweaty brow and kisses him on the mouth, rough and hard. “Alright.” she says, “ _Now_ it’s time for bed.”

Clint snorts.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chap is all talk and feels and much needed explanations between the trio. plus conflict arises between the two alpha pairs, which hopefully gets resolved in part 3 of this series.


	3. Chapter 3

All Tony can see is red, he's so angry.

He's locked himself in his workshop, using tools he probably shouldn't be touching right now, tools he's normally very careful about handling. Dum-E's in the corner, whirring and making little insistent noises, trying to hand him his protective gloves, but Tony's too upset to bother listening to the bot right now.

Little snippets of the conversation--or rather, the fight--he had with his mates hours ago are still running through his mind.

James lied to him. To both of them.

He lied about being ready last night, and Tony can't wrap his head around it. Maybe even doesn't want to.

_"You can't lie about something like that!"_

_"I don't know why you're trying to make this into a big deal!"_

Tony clenches his hand around the tool and shoves hard, probably destroying the circuits of whatever the hell it is he picked up in the first place.

"Sir, if I may--"

"You may not." Tony growls, breaking off another piece. He shouldn't be cross with JARVIS. It's not the A.Is' fault any of this is happening. He's mad at Bucky, and to a certain extent, upset with Steve too, but he's also angry with himself, and he's not sure who--if there is any one person--to blame for this whole spectacle.

And even then, shoving the blame on someone isn't going to solve the problem at hand.

All he really knows is that he's alone in this. He supposes that's something he didn't stop to consider when going into a polyamorous relationship; that if they ever got into it real bad, Bucky and Steve would take each other's sides in the fight.

Which in hindsight, he should have seen coming. Steve and Bucky have been best friends since they were in diapers, practically, an inseparable duo. So maybe it's not surprising that it's turned into a two against one type of thing right now, but it still hurts.

Tony thinks it might also be an alpha thing, the reason they can't understand why he's taken the lie so seriously. But then he thinks about Nat and Clint, and he knows they would understand him well enough, that they'd understand why the lie is causing the omega to feel so withdrawn and upset.

He shakes his head and huffs. He shouldn't compare the two pairs like that, it's not fair.

_"Tony, calm down, let's just talk about this, okay?"_

_"What the hell Steve? How can you expect me to be calm right now?"_

Tony grinds his teeth and finishes decimating the piece of technology on his table. He was on the verge of a fucking drop and he was supposed to calm down? He's still on the verge of dropping, even now. It's really sheer force of will and anger alone that he's stubbornly managing to stay afloat. Two drops in the span of twenty four hours will absolutely wreck Tony. His body can't take that kind of stress.

What he wants to do now is drown himself in some fine whiskey and avoid dealing with this whole affair altogether. But he's worked too hard to go back to drinking in order to ignore his problems, and he's not screwing up his sobriety on top of everything else today.

He picks up the welding rod on his work station table and mindlessly works, glaring at the hunk of metal through his goggles like he's got a bone to pick with it.

_"So I safeworded out--sometimes scenes go wrong, it happens. Can we just move on? I'm fine now."_

"But I'm not." Tony growls, nearly dropping the welding rod on his foot. He hates that they can't see why he's so angry. He hates that they could just brush his feelings off with a casual "It's no big deal, Tony, it's okay now." because it's not okay, and it is a big deal, if only to him. It's like his feelings don't even count!

It's the loud and sudden cacophony of sound at the door that makes Tony jerk and accidentally adjust his grip on the burning rod. "Fuck! Fuck, shit!" he drops the welding rod onto the table and grips his wrist with his uninjured hand, panting through the pain. "Fucking fuck fuck!"

He's shaking even as he runs his burned hand underneath the cold faucet water.

"I have determined the injury sustained is a second-degree burn and have allowed access to the workshop again in order to restore your health, sir." JARVIS informs Tony, sneaky little bastard that he is.

Dum-E attempts to make himself useful by making Tony a smoothie, while You and Butterfingers hover near their creator, looking about as worried as two bots can.

"Tony!" Steve stumbles into the workshop with Bucky hot on his heels.

"What happened?"

Tony forces himself to stop trembling so hard and glares at the two men. "I'm fine. Leave me alone." he's dealt with worse than a second degree burn before, he'll live.

"You need a hospital, look at that thing, it's already starting to blister!" Steve looks like he's about to carry the omega out of there if he says no.

Tony sneers. "It's not a big deal to me, so it shouldn't be one to you." he says, shooting their previous words right back at them.

Bucky cringes guiltily. "I'm sorry."

"Me too. I'm sorry Tony." Steve adds, looking just as apologetic.

Tony swallows the big lump in his throat and looks away. "You don't even know what you're sorry for."

Bucky shakes his head. "You're right. I don't. But I want to understand. I didn't think it was a big deal, I was only looking at the situation from my perspective so I didn't see why it would bother you so much, I didn't even try, and that--it's fucked up Tony. Who the hell am I to tell you you shouldn't be angry? If you're mad at me I want to know why and I want to talk about it and I want to make it up to you, if I can, because you're my mate and I love you so so much and I fucked up."

Steve squirms in place, "I don't get it either, but I want to, I--I think I just reflexively took sides in this argument without really thinking about it. I just wanted us all to be good again and I tried to take the easy way out, I didn't want us mad at each other. And when you wouldn't let it go I didn't know what to do, because I just wanted everything to be okay. But that's not right, it's not fair to anyone. We need to talk about this, really talk about it, not just pretend we're fine. I'm sorry Tony."

Tony's got his palm soaking underneath the cool water still when he finally looks up. "Okay." his voice cracks and he fights the tears threatening to fall, and shit, shit, shit, he's dropping. He can't hold it back anymore, it's happening.

"I'm..." his tongue feels so heavy. "I'm drop, I'm dropping." is the only warning he manages, just a second before he's falling to his knees, gracelessly, and then it's like his whole world is collapsing in on him.

\----

"Give me your hand, Antoshka."

Tony responds like he's on autopilot.

"Such a good boy." Steve praises, next to him, his hands massaging his shoulders, trying to ease out some of the tension there.

Tony makes a little noise but otherwise stays shut, letting Natasha lightly bandage the palm of his hand.

Clint is on the omega's other side, whispering sweet nothings into his ear and making sure Tony stays still.

Bucky comes back into the room with a tall glass of water. "How's he doing?"

"He's at least responsive now." Natasha says, not taking her eyes away from the wound she's dressing.

Bucky sticks a straw into the water and holds it up to Tony's lips. "Here you go, babe, drink some of that for me, okay?"

Tony drinks the water slowly, his eyes dazed.

\----

"We need to talk." Natasha says, as soon as she's closed the door to her bedroom, wherein Tony lies, sleeping soundly after another drop. "I hope you two realize why he dropped--again."

"Again?" Bucky arches a brow.

"He was dropping last night when Clint and I went to help." she clarifies.

Bucky goes pale. "Fuck." he hadn't realized he'd made his mate go into a drop.

Steve bites his lip. "I thought that might have been what happened." he admits. "But I wasn't sure at the time and I didn't want to assume the worse."

"You used him last night." Natasha crosses her arms over her chest and looks at the ex-soldier. "You lied and let Tony go down thinking you were ready, and then you let him think the worse about himself when nothing in the scene went right."

Bucky's heart plummets into his stomach and he thinks he might be sick. How come he hadn't he realized that earlier? In a flawed attempt to keep his mates with him, he'd pushed one further away than he ever could have imagined.

"I know you're sorry." Natasha says, before he can even speak. "And I understand that you'd do anything to take last night back. You hurt Tony, and if you don't stop to think about the consequences next time, and you end up hurting him once more, Clint and I will try our damndest to make sure he chooses us over the two of you." she scowls. "So pray to God nothing like this happens again."

Steve snaps his head up. "Did you just threaten us?"

Clint glares at the Captain. "It's a promise, Rogers. Don't fuck up."

Steve practically growls, his alpha rising to the occasion. "Tony is ours."

But Bucky puts a hand on his shoulder and looks down, conceding. "We understand."

Natasha nods. "Good."


End file.
